Obama Treated Key GOP Lawmakers To Lunch…With Strings Attached

by Don Azarias
April 16, 2013
As he tries to reach out to Congressional Republicans, President Barack Obama expressed his eagerness to “enlist anyone who is willing to help” to boost the economy and end “political gridlock.”
“At a time when our businesses are gaining a little more traction, the last thing we should do is allow Washington politics to get in the way. You deserve better than the same political gridlock and refusal to compromise that has too often passed for serious debate over the last few years,” the president said in his weekly address.
Well, look who’s talking.
Obama met with Republican senators and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), the House Budget Committee chairman, in an attempt to kick off budget negotiations and work on a deal to end the across the board sequester cuts which went into effect on March 1st.
Criticized for utter lack of leadership in his inability to compromise with the opposition—the way President Lyndon Johnson was able to do during his presidency—Obama has been unable to reach a long-term deal with House Speaker John Boehner to trim $4 trillion in deficits over 10 years.
And, most likely, after being prevailed upon by White House advisers that it’s not a good idea to “break-up” with GOP lawmakers, Obama decided to “break bread” with them instead. Conveying his overtures and using a little bit of persuasion and taxpayers’ money, Obama invited 12 Republican senators to a sumptuous dinner on March 6 at a fancy hotel restaurant in Washington, D.C.. He also scheduled a lunch with them at the White House the following day.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Obama is also expected to go to Capitol Hill for a rare lunch with all Senate Republicans—Maine lobster is on the menu—and to huddle separately with House members from both parties. However, the White House and Republican lawmakers indicated that reaching a compromise will still be elusive and difficult.
Why the sudden change in the president’s attitude? Well, it could be that Obama is trying to save his face and political profile this time around. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Obama’s approval rating falling to 43 percent, partly due to the partisan fight over taxes and spending. Questions about the president’s unwillingness to speak to Republicans, who control the House, are being raised by critics.
Most Republicans, however, are skeptical of the sudden outreach from the president who, in the past, had not shown any interest in meeting with GOP lawmakers. “He’s never spent anytime reaching out,” said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma). “The question is, is it starting to change because there is bad poll numbers or is it because he really decided he’s going to lead and solve some of the problems of the country?”
Top GOP leaders are not optimistic in achieving bipartisan breakthroughs that may result from these rounds of talks. House Speaker John Boehner was quick to point out why the chasms can’t easily be bridged. “Republicans want to balance the budget. The president doesn’t. Republicans want to solve our long-term debt problem. The president doesn’t,” he said, while adding it was incumbent on all sides to seek common ground.
The GOP’s skepticism is further reinforced by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee. Sessions claimed that their Democratic counterparts’ lack of cooperation and ability to compromise are causing the delay on budget resolution.
“Every time lawmakers try to reform the bureaucracy to accomplish these goals, they meet with the same response: President Obama attacks the reformers, saying such ideas aren’t compassionate or fair. But what is truly unfair and lacking in compassion is to protect a federal bureaucracy that is failing those that need our help the most,” Sessions said in the weekly address. “President Obama speaks of his deep concern for struggling Americans, yet his plans are focused on growing government-not the economy. He has no effective plan to create better jobs, more hiring or
raising wages. That’s what’s missing.”
“Right now, our massive debt is slowing the economy and depressing wages. We have a moral duty to balance the federal budget and bring the deficit down to zero. This is the great challenge of our time,” Sessions added. “You may be surprised to learn that we can achieve this goal if we simply hold the annual growth of spending to 3.4 percent each year. But I fear the Democrat proposal will fail this defining test and will never achieve balance. I fear it will crush American workers and our economy with trillions in new taxes, spending and debt.”
Across the Capitol, Sen. John Thune (R-South Dakota), singled out an interview in which he said the president accused Republicans of wanting to eviscerate Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. “Nobody here believes those programs ought to be gutted,” Thune told Obama, the senator later recalled. Instead, he told the president that Republicans want to preserve the programs for the future.
Obama is also well aware that he would face stiff resistance from his allies in Congress. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who sides with Democrats, said he and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), spoke out strongly against changes in calculating cost-of-living increases.
“It would make major cuts in Social Security benefits … and also very significant cuts for disabled veterans,” Sanders said in a telephone interview. “I do not believe that the American people want to balance the budget on the backs of disabled veterans or widows who lost their husbands in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Thank you and amen to that, Sen. Sanders, that’s exactly what the American public wants. That also reflects the Republicans’ sentiment regarding Social Security benefits that Obama and his Democratic allies are trying so hard to distort.